Pleasley, Derbyshire

Description
Pleasley, a village, a township, and a parish in Derbyshire. The name is often used to include the adjacent village of Pleasley Hill in Notts, on the right bank of the river Meden and in the parish and borough of Mansfield, from which town it is distant 3 miles. The ruins of the old market cross of Pleasley proper still stand in the centre of that village, once a market town. It has stations on the M.R. and the G.N.R., and a post, money order, and telegraph office under Mansfield. Cattle fairs are held on 6 May and 29 Oct. The parish contains the additional townships of Stoney Houghton, ecclesiastically attached to Pleasley, and of Shirebrook, a distinct ecclesiastical district including Stuffynwood, the Hall at which is the seat of the Paget family. Acreage, 3275; population of civil parish, 1499; of the ecclesiastical, 923. The parish council consists of seven members. Mr Frederick Verney is lord of the manor and chief landowner, having inherited from Lady Verney, who with her sister Miss Florence Nightingale were coheiresses. Pleasley Vale is a romantic spot 1 1/2 mile from the village, with limestone cliffs and ravines, and factories for cotton, silk, and merino spinning. Pleasley Vale House is a chief residence. Roman coins and a Roman pavement have been found. The living is a rectory in the diocese of South-well ; gross value, £630 with residence. The church is in the Early English style, and consists of chancel (with fine Norman arch), nave, porch, and tower. At Pleasley Hill there are a Wesleyan chapel, built in 1894, and a Methodist chapel.